Linked
by Hermia S
Summary: As an envoy between Shepard and the quarian people, Tali returns to the Migrant Fleet and is given a task. Prove that the geth can be trusted and the Fleet will join the fight against the Reapers. With a geth, two assistants, and a marine... she will.
1. Prologue: Nightmares

**A/N: **What is this? Another story? Already? Honestly, I blame BioWare. Damn them for giving us such a brilliant universe. And one with such awesome possibilities! I've never been this inspired in my _entire life_. Haha. Anyway. Yes. This is a new story. Except it's not about Shepard! (Gasp, shock, awe - I know.) If you read on, I'm sure you'll get the gist of it. It's based after the end of ME2 and before ME3. Any mistakes in the future canon are totally not my fault since I'm not working with much here.

Please don't hit me.

And remember to enjoy! :)

* * *

It was hard to forget what she'd seen.

The Collector base was nothing but broken pieces lying beyond the Omega 4 Relay, but the knowledge that they'd wiped it out did nothing to ease the sick feeling in her stomach when she remembered. When she slept, she didn't dream. She felt. She could feel the heat rising in the vents, the anxiety clawing at her stomach as she waited for Shepard to open the valve, the sheer terror that forced her hands into a frenzy when the door stuck, leaving her open to Collector fire.

Grief. Grief was another one. She could almost taste the bile rising in her throat as her mind strayed upon seeing the spatter of green blood on the ground. Mordin. She'd never been very close to the doctor, but he'd been there on the Alarei. He'd helped her and Shepard fight their way through the geth.

And of course Shepard brought her with him when they split from the rest of the group. She was given the opportunity, though she was quick to wish she hadn't, to see exactly what the Collectors were planning. The human Reaper. Even now, weeks after they'd destroyed the thing, she could still see it as plain as day. She could still hear the metallic whirring of its laser. She could recall the surge of pride she felt when it was finally dead.

Then she was falling. In its death throes, the Reaper larvae tore the platform they stood on downwards. She slipped. She fell. Her lungs ached as she shrieked for Shepard's help, only to see him jump after her. His hand - she could almost reach his hand. But she was falling too fast. He wouldn't catch her. She was going to die.

That was usually when she woke up with a start, out of breath and shivering. She wasn't used to nightmares. Before those images were burned into her head, she found a way to adapt to any situation in order to sleep soundly. As a child, her mother would often get a laugh out of finding her asleep sitting up or half-leaning, curled up under a table, anywhere she could lay her head. Even on the quiet SR-1, so different from what she was used to, she found a way to sleep.

Tali slipped her legs off of her cot, her hands running over her arms. She was lucky she wasn't being forced to shoot things anymore, not with the effects of the nightmares wearing on her concentration.

Standing up, she glanced around the lab. It was odd being here. Some would even equate her taking up a position on the Alarei to her lack of sleep. Many worried about her. Shala was one of the many, but she was certainly the most vocal. When Tali found her way back to the Migrant Fleet in order to work as an envoy to the quarian people, Captain Kar'Danna openly opposed her acceptance onto the Alarei. This was quickly turned over by the Admirals, citing that Tali was no longer part of the Neema. She was there acting as an emissary, nothing more. If she chose to call the Alarei her temporary home, then that was her decisions. They were just happy to have the pride of the Fleet back among their ranks.

While being there was unsettling, there were perks. She enjoyed being in the company of other quarians, especially while she was working. And no one could be uncomfortable knowing they actually had _assistants_. Her - of all people! Assistants! Aron'Vehor and Nesi'Ronna were as different as night and day, perhaps the reason behind their being chosen to help her. They were now both "vas Alarei" and fresh off of their Pilgrimage, awarding them a clarity that most older quarians lacked.

At first it was odd working with anyone besides the humans that filled both renditions of the _Normandy_, but they were growing on her. The one thing she wasn't getting used to was the fact that the Admiralty Board felt it vital for her to be assigned a Marine to oversee her research and whatever mindless tinkering came into play when her focus floundered. Even after she'd tried her best to persuade them that she could take care of herself, they did not change their mind. Not in the slightest. They tried their hardest not to mention her father. Empathy kept them from doing so, a figurehead of quarian politics often completely left out of their human counterparts. Instead, they warned her of the danger of dealing with the geth, as if she hadn't already fought them in close quarters before.

Their immovable offer was punctuated with a, "with all due respect," calling forth the memory of a quip from the smart mouth of Ashley Williams.

Wary about endangering her mission to improve relations between Shepard and the quarian people, Tali kept quiet. She stood very still and bit back any response as she listened to them give their tired warnings. Dangerous to bring active geth aboard. Earn their trust. Extensive study of the one called Legion.

"Legion isn't with Shepard anymore," she'd protested. "He's trying to get the geth to fight the Reapers. Shepard needs all the help he can get. Synthetics can help." In hindsight, she could hardly believe how quick she was to stand up for the geth. But in the short time he'd been a part of Shepard's crew, she learned a great deal about the faceless "threat" that haunted the Migrant Fleet. The geth were interested in a peaceful solution. After much consideration and a few annoyed rants with only Ken and Gabby to hear, she came to the conclusion that, should the geth and the quarians fight alongside each other against the Reapers, an amicable resolution could be possible.

Her own conscience couldn't keep a firm grasp on the idea of hating a sentient species, not when her own people were so openly reviled among the other races. She'd seen first hand what it was like to be met with prejudices and animosity. While she wasn't eager to share a bunk or even the same space as Legion for very long, she eventually slipped into a shaky feeling of acceptance for the synthetic. She could tell he was genuine. Or, at least, however genuine an AI could be, given their lack of the necessary parts required for true emotion.

So here she was on the Alarei, given the task to prove to the Admiralty Board that the geth could be trusted. Menial tasks filled up the time that she'd normally be fretting over exactly _how_ she'd be able to prove such a thing. Even while she calibrated this or ran diagnostics for the tenth time on that, her mind was still going absolutely crazy trying to think of how she'd be able to prove to the Admiralty that it was possible.

Every potential road led directly into putting herself into danger. Part of her figured this was from being a part of Shepard's crew for too long, but another understood that this could be the only direction she could go in. She either had to prove that a geth would sacrifice its well-being to attend to orders given by his superior or to save said superior from being shot down.

Her own doubts colored these ideas. If she put herself into direct danger, what if the geth didn't react? What if it stood there and did nothing? If she put the geth into danger, its destruction would be her fault. And for what? A stupid test.

But even before she was able to even think about how the mission could possibly end, she had to figure out what she really wanted to do. Where would she go? Could she ask Shepard for help? Legion? And what about her assistants? What would the Admiralty Board think if she failed? Would they even agree to her plan of action? They didn't have so many people as to willingly let her go again. Not after hearing what nearly happened on the Collector base.

"Oh, Keelah," she murmured, her helmet sinking into her hands.

What had she agreed to? Resting the fate of not only her people, but the geth, in her hands was a true sign of faith from Commander Shepard. She didn't feel ready.

No.

She knew she wasn't ready.


	2. Chapter 1: Tests and Trials

"Do you ever get the feeling Admiral Xen gives us these numbers to run just to keep us busy?"

Tali could see Nesi tense up, her fingers hesitating over her terminal. Only a few heartbeats later, she recovered from the comment and went back to her work. "No," was her firm reply. "We're doing this for a reason. The Admiral wouldn't give us busy work just to keep us quiet." She was unbelievably quick. Number after number, her screen filled up just as she was instructed, while the terminal beside her remained only half full, the state it'd been in for a while now.

Aron sat back in his chair. He was tired of this. For the past two hours, they'd been inputting various codes and equations into the computer, but what were they for? No one knew. No one except Daro'Xen. "It'd be a lot easier to stomach if I knew what we were working toward," he muttered, "Right now, they're meaningless numbers and they're making my eyes hurt."

"You'd finish quicker if you actually did your job," Nesi was quick to respond. Annoyance twisted around her words, her accent contorting her voice in such a way she almost sounded like the Admiral herself.

Tali smiled to herself as Aron leaned forward and went about his work. Begrudgingly. After only a couple weeks on the Alarei, she had completed more work than she ever had while with Shepard. Less shooting, mind you, but more work. Her omni-tool was now completely upgraded. Before leaving the Normandy, the salarian doctor, Mordin, gave her instructions on how to integrate a new system into it, one he often used during fire fights. So far, she hadn't had the opportunity to try it out, but it _seemed_ completely functional.

There was something about being a part of the Fleet again that filled her with the energy needed to get things done. She found herself tinkering for hours without even realizing it only to find Aron playing cards with himself after trying to get Nesi convinced to try a hand. Being the more serious of the two, she declined each offer, not even vaguely tempted, and turned back to whatever she was reading.

While running system diagnostics wasn't exactly exciting when compared to some of the things she'd gotten into in her twenty-four years, Tali enjoyed it. There was something calming in tedium. The quiet drone of the ship, the sound of Aron humming, the bleeping sound of Nesi's terminal.

But no matter how much she enjoyed being able to stop and take a breath, two things were ever-present. She missed the Normandy. She missed being so close to the drive core, and she missed hearing Ken talk about his hijinks while Gabby interrupted him with little quips about his failures. After fighting alongside Shepard again after so long, she felt like she was away from her family instead of having rejoined it. Not only that, but the Admiral's offer was always there, looking over her shoulder, waiting to be recognized and attempted. She wasn't ready for it. She didn't even have a solid plan. Part of her knew that she'd have to ask Legion for help. She didn't even know how to get into contact with it.

She was drawn out of her own introversion when she heard Aron's chair sliding back against the metallic floor. Glancing up from her own terminal, she saw him stand and stretch. He was much taller than her; much taller than even most of the men. However, his lack of substantial muscle kept him from appearing intimidating in the slightest. "What are you working on, Tali?" he asked, slipping past the table that separated her terminal from his and Nesi's.

Tali gave a little smile at the sound of her name. She was so glad he'd already taken to calling her by her name. In the two weeks since she arrived, she'd been called "ma'am" more times than she wanted to count. It wasn't that she hated courtesy or respect, but she did hate such stifling titles and she was quick to refute them.

"Recalibrating our Marine friend's omni-tool," she replied, turning her attention back to the task at hand. The Polaris VI on her left arm glowed orange as she finished inputting the final few codes. How one man could mess up her numbers only after a few days, she had no idea. She was under the opinion that he had someone recalibrate it every few weeks, especially after his hesitant acceptance to let her do it. He didn't have the guts to go against her requests. Still, she knew he wasn't completely incompetent. He just didn't have the eye for tech like she did.

"Find anything interesting?" Aron asked, leaning casually against the table where she was working.

Tali's fingers stopped moving and her eyes shot up to him. "I'm not going to _spy_. What he has on here is his business, not mine." So she had almost caved at one point or another. Curiosity was an evil thing. But she hadn't, and that was all that mattered. "I'm just adjusting the medigel output and increasing cooldown."

"No extranet files, then?" Aron pushed, rocking onto his toes as he got a better look at the omni-tool. He sounded more than a little disappointed. A lot of his past two weeks had been devoted to wondering what exactly Kal was doing on his 'tool that caused it to keep malfunctioning. Either there was something horrible going on or he was sabotaging it for free upgrades from Tali. Both options seemed completely logical, though he doubted the Marine could've sabotaged the thing. He seemed more likely to drop it on accident than hack it.

"What exactly are you insinuating?"

Aron couldn't help but grin. "Any vids? Holos? Come on, Tali; he has to be keeping something on there. I almost need an upgrade, I've got too much on mine."

"That was more than I needed to know, Aron," Tali interrupted him, removing Kal's omni-tool and setting it on the table. She slipped hers on instead and moved away, absently checking to see if she'd received any messages during the day. One - from Kelly. Shepard's yeoman was certainly an interesting woman, but why did she take such an interest in her? Who knew?

She could feel someone behind her, looking over her shoulder. Whirling around, she jerked her head up to see Aron standing right behind her. "Don't you have work to do?" she asked, quickly exiting out of Kelly's message.

"I'm finished!"

They both turned to see Nesi glance up from her terminal. "Finished? Already? How?"

"You were right," Aron admitted, "Work does go a lot faster when you actually do it." Now he was just showing off, and they all knew it. Nesi's helmet blinked as she heaved a sigh and turned back to her terminal. Aron's attention was back on Tali, whose attention was back on her omni-tool, turned just enough so he couldn't see it. "Sooo," he began, "What sorts of upgrades do you have on yours?"

Tali looked up at him for a moment before staring back down at the screen. "Just the usual. Tech cooldown, medigel upgrades. I can drain a shield in three point five seconds flat and hack an enemy for twelve. And there's Chikktika, my drone." Her tone was full of delight as she ran over her list of talents, as if reading her resume instead of the bells and whistles on her omni-tool. "I have something I haven't tried out yet. A salarian scientist gave me the details for the upgrade before I left the Normandy."

"I can see why Shepard was so set on having you in his squad," Aron breathed, almost overwhelmed by the list of upgrades. He could overload a terminal or a very small mech, but he wouldn't be able to hack them or even send out a drone to absorb fire. "What make and model?"

"Savant X," Tali said proudly. "It was a gift from Shepard after we defeated Saren."

She could remember every detail of receiving that gift as if it'd happened hours before and not years. John Shepard, still in full dress uniform, showing up in Engineering only hours after accepting his medal from the Council. She'd been suffering from a cold and hadn't been able to attend, though everyone who went claimed it was one of the most beautiful, yet boring assemblies they'd ever been to. He thanked her for what she'd done and handed her a box. She remembered opening it and giving an almost embarrassingly high-pitched trill of delight before launching herself into his arms in a hug.

Tali was in the midst of her memory when the door on the far side of the room hissed open. Aron snapped to attention, immediately reaching for the nearest object to look like he was working on something. Luckily, Daro'Xen wasn't checking up on them. She was too enveloped in her own research to pay any mind to them.

When Aron realized it was Reegar, he set the globular object down on the desk awkwardly. "Tali just finished the recalibration," he chimed in as he moved towards the table.

Both Tali and Aron watched as Kal picked up the omni-tool and slipped it on. "I was under the impression it would take a few days," he said, observing the glowing orange 'tool with curiosity. Everything was as he left it. Or, at least, how it had been before the damn thing went crazy. He noticed a few little upgrades, as well.

"I'm sure it would," Tali interrupted, her own omni-tool blinking out of sight as she stepped forward, "If you had just anyone fix it."

To anyone else, such confidence could easily be mistaken as arrogance, but it was different with Tali. Everyone in the room knew she was a genius when it came to tech. Really, they didn't expect any less from Rael'Zorah's daughter. But when you're actually forced to acknowledge the fact, it was a bit staggering. Intimidating, even.

Kal's helmet dipped in a nod. "Thank you, ma'am."

She gave an almost silent groan. How could Aron and Nesi so easily accept calling her by her name, but Kal refused to let go of his incessant "ma'am"s? No matter how much it bothered her, she'd begrudgingly accepted it by now. She'd be better off beating her faceplate into a brick wall as opposed to persuading him to call her otherwise.

Instead of correcting him this time, Tali's gaze fell back down to her omni-tool. "Reegar, I want to try out a new upgrade I installed," she said, not bothering to look away from the orange glow to see if he'd accept. She knew he would. That was part of his new job description. He'd follow her right out of an airlock if it meant hurting something that stood in her way. "Can you show me somewhere safe enough for me to give it a try?"

"Just what exactly are we talking about here, ma'am?" Kal asked. He was wary. Another part of his new job. Anything Tali'Zorah suggests - think over it not once, not twice, but at least three times. If it implies any possible threat to her person, deny her. If she tries it anyway, watch her like a baby in a bubble.

"High-explosive plasma rounds," she replied blithely, as if plasma rounds were the norm, even highly explosive ones. "Mordin's, but I've had my eye on them ever since I saw him use one."

Kal thought about it. Once. Twice. Three times. High explosive rounds were dangerous, but if he could get them into the weapons testing area, there wouldn't be any danger. Unless her omni-tool malfunctioned, which was highly doubtful but still possible. "I don't see why not," he said, "Did you want to try it now?"

Tali smiled to herself as the orange glow around her left arm disappeared. "Yes."

The Alarei's interior was the exact same as it had been when she boarded the ship with Shepard and Miranda without the shooting and explosions. Without the frenzy and - mostly - without the grief. Now, the hallways were full of her people, going about their business as if the ordeal never happened. At first, it was hard to see people chatting and laughing in the same hallway where she and Shepard found her father's body, but she grew used to it.

Plus, things were easier when she was walking in the shadow of Kal'Reegar. He cleared the path quite easily, parting any groups standing in the way with no more than a steady approach. Tali didn't quite understand why he cut such an imposing figure in the eyes of everyone else, since he wasn't very threatening at all. At least, she didn't see him as such. She was thankful for this regardless of understanding it or not.

No matter how hard he tried to keep from glancing back over his shoulder at her, Kal couldn't repress the urge, sneaking glances back at Tali as they rounded a corner or went through a door. Ever since the Admiralty Board pulled him aside and told him to keep an eye on her, it was all he could see himself doing. It was his job. It's what he was tasked with - for the good of the Fleet. So he'd been pulled from active duty. As long as he was helping in some small way, he would feel fulfilled. Keeping Tali safe wasn't exactly the least appealing of opportunities.

This was his chance to prove that any mishaps on Haestrom could be recovered, his own reputation wiped clean of any spots left over from the number of men dying under his command. But this wasn't just about his repute. Tali was more than just another woman. Sure, everyone in the Migrant Fleet knew her name now. She'd helped Commander Shepard not only defeat Saren, but again when she went beyond the Omega 4 Relay and destroyed the Collector base. Most people viewed her with awe and respect, not realizing how different she was up close.

_Not_ that Kal had any idea about what she was like "up close."

He pulled his shoulders back in defense of his own thoughts as he swiftly input the code, unlocking the access pad that led into the weapons testing area. It was clear from the state of the large room that no one had been in here since they'd done a clean sweep of the ship after the Alarei was taken.

Everything was perfect. Targets were fresh and unscarred. Terminals were cold from being idle so long. Tables were clear of anything besides lights or data pads waiting for information. It was eerie. Almost disturbing. That was, until Tali slipped past him through the door and made her way right into it as if she'd been working here for the last two weeks. He watched her as she turned on a few more lights, adjusting the brightness from dimly lit to almost blinding, her idea of a perfect workspace.

Shutting the door behind him, Kal moved over to one of the tables near to the target she was eyeing over her shoulder. "I don't think I've ever seen a plasma round in action before," he said. When she didn't answer him immediately, he figured she was too focused on whatever she was doing with her omni-tool. "Not a high-explosive one, at least."

"I saw Mordin take a Collector down in a single hit with one of these," Tali quickly replied, looking up from the orange glow to Kal. He could hear the smile in her voice. "They're really efficient against organic enemies. I always felt useless with Shepard when we weren't fighting geth or mechs, since I can't exactly hack a person." She chuckled, "Yet."

"You working on that, ma'am?"

Tali gave a little shrug before taking a few steps back, farther away from the target. "I guess you'll have to find out the hard way." Before he was able to respond, she was lifting her omni-tool in the air, fingers clutched into her palm which she held above the ground. Her helmet tilted towards Kal. "You should probably find cover, in case something happens."

"Are you expecting an accident?" he asked, though he wasn't fool enough to ignore her warning. Tali'Zorah was a mastermind when it came to tech. If some salarian scientist could whip up something like this on his own, she should be able to follow the instructions well enough to mimic it.

She didn't answer him. Instead, she fell into a familiar stance - left leg a pace forward, most of her weight balanced on that foot as she held her hand outwards, omni-tool almost pulsing with light on her arm. Taking a deep breath, her thumb twitched just enough for it to register a shot. The room was filled with a vivid light as the explosive round left her omni-tool and ran a straight path, directly into the target.

There was an explosion, followed directly by a scream that led to Kal nearly jumping out of cover to look for any damages. But Tali hadn't screamed in pain. Not from the looks of things. Her scream was one of delight, and she was already inputting data into her omni-tool after the first successful trial when his sense finally caught up to him.

"So it works, I take it?" he asked, glancing towards the target only to find that it was not only half-destroyed, but pieces of it were on fire.

When he found some way to put out the miniature flames, he saw Tali standing there, watching him, omni-tool hanging by her side with her other hand resting on her hip. "Would you trust something after just one trial?" Rhetorical question. "You really don't have to be here while I do this if you don't want to."

Her passive attempt at getting some alone time with her new toy was shut down not a moment later. "The Board would have my neck if I let you blow things up all by your lonesome."

"I'm not a _child_," she pressed, though the annoyed tone she took on suggested otherwise.

Kal did feel badly about having to stick around all the time. Privacy was highly desired, if almost impossible to achieve on the Migrant Fleet. No doubt she was used to having "alone time" back on the Normandy, but things were different here. She'd have to reacclimatize herself to it. Still, he found his mouth open, about to excuse himself. Shutting his lips, he took his spot behind the table again. "No, but I have a job. And I'm gonna do it."

She shrugged him off before typing in another set of codes and taking up her stance. For what felt like hours, the two of them stood in the testing area. Every small explosion was met with a bubbling excitement from the young woman and the slightest bit of worry from the marine. She was going to hurt herself. He just knew it. She was only a few yards away from the target. Too close by anyone's standards. However, somehow, by the grace of the gods, she survived a dozen trials before she decided that was enough for the day.

"You should bring me back here in a few days," she said quietly as she switched off her omni-tool. Twelve successful trials meant that she could tweak the program a little more and return, packing an even bigger punch. That was her favorite part - improving upon what was already established as working. It could always be better, stronger. It could have a faster cooldown or hit with a bigger bang. The very idea of what she could do with this filled her with a joy that she hadn't felt in a while, and it was reflected in her voice. "This was fun."

"You have one warped sense of fun," Kal replied, clearly more emotionally exhausted by the whole ordeal than she was, "… ma'am."


	3. Chapter 2: Doubts

Everyone on the shuttle could sense Tali's anxiety. The feeling that hit them from all sides was impossible to ignore, as was her strained silence. When they'd left the Alarei, Aron had attempted conversation, only to find her unwilling to speak. All she wanted to do was get this short ride over with, get onto the Rayya, talk to the Admirals, and get off the ship as quickly as possible. This left Aron and Nesi sitting beside the equally taciturn Daro'Xen, sharing sideways glances out of the shuttle's windows in an attempt to gauge how much longer it would be.

Tali's hesitance to speak with the Admirals again was rational. Every time she was placed before them, something was said that drove her to worry. Her stomach still did flips inside of her every time she thought about the trial. She'd gotten off with her and her father's name relatively intact - thanks to Commander Shepard, but nothing would erase the memory of standing in front of them, waiting for their decision. Nothing. And that was followed by the meeting once the Normandy acquired docking access for the second time. She left the ship and was escorted directly to a much smaller deliberation chamber, where she sat and was given her mission, head ducked low and eyes averted from the four figures on the other side of the table.

Meeting with the Admiralty Board wasn't something she was forced into very often as a child. Even when her father was nothing more than a singular voice in the Conclave, she hardly saw him. Expecting to be wrapped up in the politics of the Board once her father was lifted to that status would've been a ridiculous fancy. No more than twice was she allowed to sit in as the Admirals debated, and the matter at hand didn't seem as important as they did now. Then again, she was bored out of her brain the only two times she'd sat in, twitching eagerly on the raised seating as she yearned to be allowed to return to her friends.

But things were altogether different now. Her father was no longer one of the Admirals, and no matter how much she willed him to be on the other side of the table, he wasn't there. Now she was the one under the scrutiny. It was her motives in question, and her practices under close watch. The entire team would be called to the Rayya every ten cycles to update the Admiralty Board on their progress. This meant that they would have to work even harder to maintain some illusion of progress, even if there was none.

No progress. She hated herself for allowing that, but she hadn't contacted Shepard yet. Her focus was on upgrades, on fixing the ship after the mess her father left, on figuring out what she was even doing there and how she would prove to the Board what they wanted her to prove.

The shuttle arrived at the Rayya sooner than expected, though it felt like a small eternity for those traveling. Daro'Xen was the first to exit, not sharing a word on her departure as she strode through the door in the direction of where the meeting would be held. Nesi was the next to exit, followed by Aron, who turned and lingered by the exit, waiting for Tali to catch up.

"Tali'Zorah." Tali's eyes jerked upwards in the direction of the voice, and her cheek twitched in an invisible smile of recognition.

"Captain Kar'Danna," she greeted. Her voice held but a shade of its usual exuberance. She was still having trouble sleeping. That coupled with her current situation's tedium was weathering her energy down to almost nothing. "How is the Rayya?"

Kar'Danna tilted his head towards the door, and Tali followed by his side, shadowed by Aron as he trailed the two out into the connecting hallway. "She is well for the most part," he began, nodding to the guard as they passed. "We feared a leak a few night cycles ago, but it was a false alarm. Otherwise, she is as she always was."

"Strong and _relatively_ quiet," Tali chuckled. She loved the Rayya, even though she was a bit louder than most of the other ships, as well as a bit older. She'd been born here, after all. It was her very first home, the one she spent the longest in. Nothing would ever change how she felt about walking these halls. "I should catch up with the others."

"Keelah se'lai, Tali'Zorah."

It didn't take much to catch up with Nesi, who'd set a slow pace for just that reason. Despite not having been to the Admiral's private chamber but once, the path was burned into her brain as if she'd been there a dozen times at least. No one forgets their heading when they're expected by the Admiralty Board. When she'd spoken to Shepard about it, he'd laughed and likened it to a solitary walk towards the principal's office in order to be reprimanded. You know where it is, and it's the dread that comes along with it that intensifies the experience, draws it out so you can remember every single thing that happens.

When the three finally arrived at the door, Tali stopped and took a deep, almost ragged breath. This was it - another meeting with the Admiralty Board. What should she expect? What _did_ she expect? Would they throw something else at her? Would they cut off her experiments altogether? She glanced down only to find that she was already wringing her hands. Aron reached out and placed a supportive hand on her shoulder, eliciting from her a quiet, tremulous laugh.

She had every reason to be nervous, but she also had a few very solid reasons to be proud of what she sought to accomplish, what she'd already completed. All she needed to do is get into contact with Shepard, ask him for his help with Legion, and find a way to persuade the Board that the geth could be trusted. She had to. And she was going to.

_Right_, she thought to herself, pulling her shoulders back as Aron let his hand fall to his side. _I'm going to do this. Nothing is going to stop me. This _has_ to happen._

A simple gesture before the access pad brought the door sliding downward in a hiss. The chamber was not as brightly lit as she remembered, and as she settled down in the center of three chairs and her eyes went to the Admirals, she noticed that they did not appear nearly as intimidating. Granted, this time was different from the last. She was not alone. Nesi sat down to her left and Aron to her right.

"Greetings, Tali." The estimable Han'Gerrel was the first to acknowledge her, as was often the case since the trial. Shepard discovered a like-minded individual in him, despite a differing opinion when it came to the potential war between the quarian people and the geth. The commander's warmth paired with Han'Gerrel's friendship with Tali's father held her in a positive light and kept her there.

Shala was the next to speak. "We have called you here to assess your progress on the Alarei," she began, a datapad held in her hands. No doubt one from the desk of Daro'Xen. "It comes to our attention that you have not begun your tests as of yet." She wasn't interested in dallying about, not after the din she'd caused by not warning Tali of her father's position on the ship before the trial. Shepard's reaction vastly outweighed her own nearly silent panic. He'd shouted at Raan, completely unimpressed by the woman's political side-stepping when it came to the girl who referred to her as "Auntie Raan."

"The Alarei wasn't in the best shape when I arrived, Admiral," Tali said, pulling herself closer to the table to mask her uncomfortable shift in the chair. "Nesi, Aron, and I have been overseeing repairs. It doesn't give us much time to work."

"And what of Commander Shepard?" Admiral Zaal'Koris intoned, the dismissal in his voice sending a shot of white heat up her spine. Koris was so quick to discount Shepard, despite everything he'd accomplished. He was so focused on the quarian people, so blind to the accomplishments of any other species, that it was almost smothering. Often she'd repressed the desire to insist he show the commander some respect, but she was not in the position to say such a thing. It wouldn't help her, only hurt her. "Have you spoken to him? Has he agreed to help?"

Tali could feel a lump building in her throat. She'd meant to contact Shepard the moment she heard what she had to do, but something was putting her off, forcing her to wait, day after day, until the last possible moment. She always felt like she was asking him for help, running to him when she needed anything - from a pat on the head to a fully functioning, sentient machine. "I," she stammered, her helmet sinking downwards. Her hands clasped each other tightly beneath the table. "I have not contacted him." Before any of the Admirals were able to respond, she glanced back up at them, her voice resolute. "But I will. Soon."

"We believe you, Tali," Han'Gerrel said, quick to cut off Zaal before he spoke. She was thankful for him, knowing that there was at least a single person on the Board who still cared for her. Instead of pressing the subject farther, Han turned towards Daro'Xen who sat to his left, clearly only half-listening to the discussion. "What about you, Xen? Find anything interesting?"

The woman glanced up from her omni-tool, "Quite." A few nimble movements later and her omni-tool blinked out of existence, the orange glow fading from her violet faceplate. As was expected of her, she seemed altogether distracted. Distant. The other three Admirals were used to receiving such a reaction, though it didn't annoy them any less. "But nothing I wish to share with everyone in this room."

Shala'Raan set the datapad down onto the table, placing her hand almost protectively over it. "Time is of the essence, Tali," she said simply; delicately, as if speaking to a child. She knew this tone of voice for she often heard it. "And we do not have much of it if your captain's predictions are correct." Her words tightened the knot in Tali's stomach. She knew she didn't have much time. Shepard had been quite clear about that. It would be a month, maybe two at the very most, until the Reaper fleet rolled into the Terminus. Not only was she working under pressure, but she was working on a time limit, as well. Luckily for everyone involved, her training kept her level, and she was smart enough to know not to panic. "Contact Captain Shepard vas Normandy or we will be forced to reconsider our offer."

The shuttle ride back to the Alarei seemed somehow shorter. Without Daro'Xen there, Nesi and Aron conversed easily with each other. Aron tried more than once to include Tal in the discussion, but she politely declined with a wave of her hand, her focus pooled in its entirety on her omni-tool. The moment she got back to the Alarei, she'd contact Shepard. She didn't have the luxury of waiting around anymore, that much was clear by the end of the meeting with the Admirals.

Once the shuttle was docked and her two assistants were on their way back to the lab, Tali was already heading in the direction of her quarters. The room itself wasn't very large, but it was separated from the rest of the crew - an indulgence she wasn't used to _or_ particularly fond of. Today, however, she was thankful for her little space as she settled down in front of her private terminal.

"This is the SSV Normandy." A familiar voice seemed to fill the room as the connection linked. Joker wasn't looking towards the camera, no doubt busy fiddling with this or that on the omni-board. "State your business."

"That isn't much of a greeting, Joker," Tali chuckled.

She watched with an amused expression as the pilot pulled himself to attention at the sound of her voice. "Sorry about that," he laughed, shifting in his chair to shoot a crooked smile into the camera. Even just seeing a glimpse of the cockpit over Joker's shoulder made her miss the Normandy more than anything. When she wasn't down in Engineering, she'd often find herself in the cockpit, sitting cross-legged in the seat beside his to get a better look at the magic he performed on the ship. "Let me guess. You need to talk to Shepard."

"Right," Tali replied. But Shepard's attention was in high demand. He might've been planetside on a mission, or docked at the Citadel in another stalemate with the Council. Or even up in his cabin, filtering through whatever unread messages filled up his terminal. When this dawned on her, she suddenly felt foolish for expecting direct contact. Her tone was sheepish when she added, "Unless he's busy. I could just leave a message."

"Hah, yeah, like he'd miss the opportunity to have a chat with the quarian princess," Joker mused, hands moving around the omni-board as he set up a direct link to Shepard's quarters. "How are things with the Fleet?"

While Joker didn't seem all that interested in the question, she was quick to give him an answer. "Crowded." She took a long breath, settling herself against the back of her chair. "And I'm stuck in a lab when I'd rather be down on the Engineering deck. It's good to be home, though. For the most part."

Joker half-smiled in the direction of the camera, a lazy expression that told her that he really hadn't been listening to what she'd said. Anyone who didn't know Jeff would've been offended, but she knew what happened up in the cockpit, just how busy he really was. It was shocking he'd even given her the time to ask her a question about the Flotilla. Joker set up an audio only link to Shepard with a few deft strokes of his hand, "Commander, Tali's requesting a direct connection to your quarters. You decent?"

Tali bit down on her bottom lip to keep from laughing at the comment, harder when she heard Shepard's reply of, "I'm always decent, Joker."

Before she knew it, Jeff had disappeared and she was staring into the face of the renowned Commander John Shepard. It was… odd seeing him like this, but she quickly acclimated herself to the difference. "Commander," she greeted with an injection of liveliness that brought a smile to the commander's face. She took a deep breath, hoping, willing, praying silently that he'd interrupt her before the words she needed to say met her lips. Of course, since nothing in the entire galaxy ever went right for her, he didn't. "I hate having to ask you this."

"Tali," John stated, his voice deepening an octave. "How long have you known me? Three years?" The question was rhetorical, but she found herself nodding all the same. "And you know I'd do anything for a member of my crew." Again, she nodded. "So ask me what you have to ask me, and I'll do it."

"I need you to talk to Legion for me," she said. Her voice was quiet, unsure, but he could still hear it clearly over the terminal. "I don't know how to get into contact with him, but… _gah._" Her hand was on her faceplate, cradling it as if she didn't want to go any farther. She _hated_ having to ask him for this. He owed nothing to her. If anything, she owed him. "The Admiralty Board - they want me to run… experiments. On an active geth."

Shepard's hands waved into the camera. "Whoa, whoa, whoa." He leaned forward, peering so intensely at her she felt like he was in the same room. And he was looking right through her faceplate, into her eyes. The thought had her stomach lurching forward. "After what we both saw on the Alarei, you want me to have Legion send you a geth to run experiments on? And the Admiralty Board is _asking _you to do this?"

Tali gave a short gasp. "No! It's not like that, Shepard, I swear." Her hands ran absently along the length of her thighs, curling at the fabric of her suit as she contemplating how to explain herself. "They want to know if they can trust the geth. The experiments would be nothing like what my father was doing. The Board doesn't want to put numbers into your army just to have them all killed by the geth."

"So you're asking me to talk to Legion," Shepard murmured, sitting back in his chair, "To see if he'll send you one of his own. To test the geth's ability to put its own prejudices aside?"

"I -" She sucked her lip into her mouth again, glancing away from the camera. "I don't think they would call it a prejudice. They don't even believe geth are capable of _having_ prejudices, much less acting upon them." She looked back to Shepard, "They just want to have proof that, should a quarian bare its back to a geth, they wouldn't get a bullet."

The silence that followed was contemplative. Shepard ran a hand along his chin, smoothing down the two day's worth of stubble that rose on his cheeks. _Oh, Keelah,_ she thought to herself as she waited for his response, _Please, Shepard. Please say you'll talk to Legion. You know how much is at stake here better than anyone._

Finally, after what felt like forever, Shepard pulled himself away from the back of the chair. "I'll talk to him." Tali felt an enormous wave of relief roll over her. She thought Shepard was close to disconnecting the link, but instead, he moved closer. "Be careful, Tali. I'm going to need you on my squad when this is over."

"I'll be careful, Shepard," she replied with a small smile he couldn't see. "I'm always careful."

When the connection was cut, Tali rose from her chair and stretched her arms high into the air, letting every worry she'd been carrying over speaking to Shepard leave her in the span of a single, heavy sigh. She didn't know why she always felt so nervous speaking to him about things when they concerned her. Their conversations were amusing and often very long when they were focused on other matters.

Then again, she didn't make it a point to readily depend upon anyone but herself. Asking others for help seemed somehow _wrong_, especially after her father spent so much time making sure that she was as independent as anyone could possibly be. The fact that she often found herself in situations where other people had to rescue her was infuriating, but she didn't openly complain. There was a difference between being annoyed and being ungrateful, and she made sure to always be on the right side of that line.

Locking the door to her quarters behind her, Tali made her way down the hallways of the Alarei toward the weapon testing area she and Kal visited a few days prior. She hadn't been there since. Now seemed as good a time as any to try out her new toy again for a few hours. Any more than that would be inadmissible since Aron and Nesi couldn't be relied upon to do all the work themselves.

Her curiosity was sparked when she made her way towards the door only to find that it was unlocked and the room was brightly lit. The door fell open and she entered, only to find Kal hunched over his omni-tool. He glanced up when he heard her cross the room, "I figured talking to the Board would take a hell of a lot longer than that."

"That explains why you weren't there to meet the shuttle?" she asked, a hint of teasing coloring her words. She didn't mean to. Really, she didn't. No matter how tired or nervous or stressed she was, she couldn't help but revert to teasing. Some would've called it a safety mechanism. She hopped up onto the examination table he was leaning on. "How am I supposed to go anywhere without my armed guard?"

Kal gave a quiet laugh, "With that new toy of yours, I'd wager you wouldn't have much of a problem, ma'am."

She didn't have a witty response for him. Instead, she chuckled and turned her attention to her hands as she laced them in her lap, heels kicking lazily against the table. Everything that was going on here was so overwhelming. She was still high off the shock of survival when Shepard left her off on the Fleet. Now that she was finally acclimating to the idea of it, it was followed by the harsh reality that the fighting wasn't over yet. There was so much more that had to be done, and it had to be done as soon as possible.

"Kal?" she asked, looking up from her hands towards him. "The Admiralty Board described what I'm attempting to do, didn't they?"

His helmet bobbed in a nod. "They did."

Tali nodded, as well, though hers was a pensive afterthought. "And you've been with the Fleet Marines for a few years?" Ten, to be exact. He'd enlisted right after turning eighteen, a popular decision among the Fleet's less scientifically-inclined residents. He nodded; she continued. "Shepard told me once that you have to trust those you have with you on the field. That's why he spent so much time helping us." She paused, her eyes flitting back at forth from Kal to her lap. "How do you know?"

"I'm not sure if I read you, ma'am," Kal replied. A few prods of a finger later and his omni-tool disappeared. He shifted his weight and position, turning so he was half-facing her.

"How do you know what someone trusts you?"

Her words felt distant, as if she wasn't the one actually speaking them. She could almost _sense_ Kal taking a moment to consider her question. "I'm not too sure if I have the answer you're lookin' for. With the Marines, you go through training together. That pulls you in close. Then you're put through things you never thought you'd survive, but you do because you have them there with you. There's no real moment when you realize, 'I trust these guys.' It's something that's just there."

Suddenly, Tali felt lost. She didn't have enough time. Every second that ticked by when Kal's voice fell into silence rang in her ears. Every breath she took, every single beat of her heart was another she wasn't putting into her work. Her lungs threatened to give out as she tried to sigh, only managing a ragged puff of air that dissipated before it met the filters of her helmet.

"How am I going to do this?" she asked him. He could hear the strain in her voice, like she was fighting any emotion that threatened to leak into her words. "Three centuries of hate separate me from what the Admiralty Board wants me to accomplish. I have to change it. I have to turn hate into trust."

"If anyone can do that, it's you, Tali'Zorah."

For a moment, her floundering thoughts quieted. She hadn't been grasping for that response. She would have been more than happy to sit there and stew in her own worry. But, despite not knowing what she needed to hear, Kal somehow found the words. "You," Tali murmured, her posture straightening, "You really think so?"

"Well, yeah," Kal said, shifting his weight from one leg to another, as if the slightest bit uncomfortable under her renewed stare of disbelief. "And I'm not the only one who does, either. Everyone in the Fleet is standing behind you after all you've done."

Tali felt a warmth blossoming in her chest as she hopped down from the examination table. She turned towards Kal, her hands resting on his arms. She wanted to thank him. If not for the helmets, she'd have kissed him. "Kal, you have no idea how much I needed to hear that." He could hear the smile in her voice, and it spread one across his own mouth. "I - I should get back to work." Her arms swooped around his neck in a spontaneous hug. "Thank you again!"

She disappeared out of the door before he was able to say a thing, leaving him as she'd found him.

"You're, uh, welcome, ma'am."


	4. Chapter 3: Meetings

Neither Aron nor Nesi wanted to speak up. No matter how annoying Kal's foot tapping on the metal grating became, they kept quiet, well-aware of his discomfort and not wanting to add to it. Every now and then, his toes would stop, coming to rest on the floor, and he let go of a sigh or a groan or a few murmured words that neither of them understood. But soon after, he was tapping again, fingers laced between his spread knees.

The three were seated in the antechamber leading into Admiral Daro'Xen's office. It was, as the rest of the ship, sparsely decorated and all but left the way they'd found it. Every few meters, there was a scar on the wall or a poorly reconstructed table. Each flaw in their surroundings was another added reminder of what Rael'Zorah nearly brought upon the Fleet. That was only part of the reason why Kal was having a problem remaining still.

Daro'Xen's office was not always hers. Before that, it belonged to Tali's father. If she wasn't set on reconstructing the rest of the ship, he doubted she'd changed much inside the room.

Aron fiddled with his omni-tool, the orange glow flashing against his face plate as he brought up the time. "An hour; she's been in there for an hour." There was an edge of dread in his voice as his eyes left the omni-tool and looked to Kal. The other man tensed visibly, and Aron felt a sharp elbow in his side. He turned his eyes upon Nesi, who sat beside him. "What?"

"You're going to make it worse," she replied in a hushed, pointed whisper.

Once again, they fell into silence. Aron turned to his omni-tool in order to keep his fingers busy enough that his mouth wouldn't be tempted to open again. While technically on break, today it was his job to keep an eye on the numbers steadily cranked out of the computers back at the lab. Tali wasn't anywhere as strict about keeping an eye open at all times as he'd expected, but he also had a string of exacting teachers, the sort who would punish you for looking at the numbers _wrong_, much less not looking at them at all.

Nesi sat there, hands folded in her lap. The only movement she made was a slight tilt of her helmet every once in a while as she glanced towards the door leading into the Admiral's office. Why they'd been forced to come along was beyond her. She could have been back in the lab instead of sitting around, staring at nothing in particular, while they waited for Tali to finish speaking to Daro'Xen.

And Kal. Kal kept quiet for the most part, his tapping foot making any of the noise that filled the small room. Behind his faceplate was a different story. His expression shifted as each thought passed over him; they ranged from worry to annoyance, even straying upon anger for more than a moment.

After the Trial, when Tali stepped away from Shepard to speak to Shala'Raan, Kal approached the commander. They conversed for a short time, mostly about the trial, but eventually their attention turned to Tali. Shepard thanked him for standing up for her, and he accepted it with an unconscious shift on his feet. That led to the conversation switching to her completely. "There's just something about her," he remembered Shepard saying, "that makes you want to protect her with your life. I don't get it. Never did."

Now he could see her sitting in her father's old office, fingers wringing in her lap, too small in the large, forbidding surroundings. Her helmet would be ducked down while she listened, lifting only to give talk back or to show that she heard what the Admiral said. He could almost hear her shaky, yet somehow confident voice echoing in his head.

Daro'Xen was not a warm woman. In all of his years knowing her, she'd never once extended a hand to him in greeting, not even when he'd been accepted aboard the Alarei. It was as if the woman lived in a constant state of displeasure.

"I don't like this."

Both Aron and Nesi looked towards Kal at his sudden speech, surprised considering the silence that had begun to stretch out before them. This time, it was Nesi who spoke. "I don't like waiting around, either. We should be doing something useful."

Kal's helmet moved from side to side as he adjusted himself in the chair, shoulders tilting forward as his elbows rested on his knees. "No," he said, "It's not that." He glanced up at Tali's assistants before turning his eyes towards the door that led into the office. "I don't like waiting around out here while she talks to the Admiral alone. Don't you two always go in with her when she talks to them?"

"Well, yeah," Aron was quick to respond. "But those meetings are about the general progress we're making. Admiral Xen said this meeting was about Tali."

_That's exactly why I worry_, Kal's thoughts chimed, though he did little more than sigh.

He was aware of how well a perfectly timed blow to one's ego could cripple their sense of drive, and Tali's perceptiveness to such a hit was multiplied by the gravity of her mission. Her failure to provide enough proof to the Admirals could very well be the tipping point in the war against the Reapers.

While he'd seen a lot and experienced even more, he could hardly begin to imagine the stress she must be under. He knew that he was only here to make sure Tali remained safe, but he'd made it a point to keep an eye on her, to watch for any signs that might lead to a slip in her resolve. His eagerness to take this task on was not only due out of respect for Commander Shepard and Tali herself, but for that quiet turning in his gut every time she spoke.

A shadow was cast over his face as his helmet came to rest in his hands. The hour was slowly drifting onward, and he felt each minute tick by, the seconds tightening the muscles in his back, in his throat.

On the other side of the door, Tali was feeling a similar tightness in her chest.

For what felt like a small eternity, Admiral Xen sat in silence, helmet tipped downward as she stared into her terminal, searching for some sign, some tiny mistake. Murmurs ran around the ship of Tali keeping odd hours, not getting enough rest, and even joking of how little sleep she actually got during the night. If there was one simple way to toss a wrench into Tali'Zorah's experiments, it was in front of her.

The knowledge that Admiral Xen was actually _searching_ for a reason to report in to the other Admirals worked Tali's nerves into a fever pitch. Instead of finding a calming element in her own mind, she found nothing but condemnations - should've kept her mouth shut, should've gotten more sleep, should've worked harder. When you're sitting face to face with quite possibly the ending point of your journey, each alternate decision lights a glaringly easier path.

Finally, Admiral Xen looked up at her. After spending so much time away from the Flotilla, Tali found herself despising the envirosuit helmets even more than she had before. So used to deciphering feelings from even the smallest of facial expressions, the inability to do so was nearly infuriating. She hated that she couldn't read the expression on the admiral's face, and the woman was so learned in the art of body language that her thin frame did little to help her understand her reaction either. Instead, she was forced to wait and listen.

"Your reports appear to be accurate," the admiral began, lacing her fingers on the desk in front of her. Her voice could be described as stony at best, though it bothered Tali none. She was used to Xen's considerable lack of emotion; it was when she showed feeling that she was unsettling.

The woman leaned forward, white eyes flashing behind the opaque violet faceplate. Tali felt her breath hitch soundlessly in her throat. "But Tali, I am _worried_." The stress Xen put on the word sent a chill down her spine. "You've spent much of the past few weeks not getting enough rest. Surely the stress is taking a toll on your higher brain functions, though your work does not mirror this theory."

"If my work doesn't have any mistakes…" Tali bit down on the inside of her lip. She didn't know what to say. After sitting so long in this office, watching Daro'Xen and trying as hard as she could to keep from looking around, she'd nearly forgotten how to speak altogether. Her question faltered in her mouth, but she forced it out, her words rushing forth without a single pause. "Can I get back to work?"

Her fingers tensed around each other when she saw Xen's helmet drift from side to side. "Not yet, Tali'Zorah," she replied. The delicate tone the admiral adopted was smothering, like her words were jamming her filters and she couldn't breathe properly. Tali suddenly felt smothered, her skin reacting to the piercing white eyes of Daro'Xen in conflicting ways. There was a chill; there was a burning. "I'm only trying to speak with you about your physical condition. I could send for a physician. How long has it been since you've been looked after?"

"A few weeks." Tali's words were separated by unsure pauses. What exactly was Xen after? What should she say? What did the woman want to hear? "After we got back from the Omega 4 Relay."

The singular white light on the front of Xen's helmet glowed as she gave a quiet, "Tsk."

How could such a sound drive fear and worry right to the core of a person?

"Why - why do you ask?"

Xen turned to her terminal once more, fingers moving fluidly along the orange screen. "I am only concerned about your health, Tali." She could tell that was a lie. No matter her age or however immature Xen believed her to be, anyone with sense could have picked that up. "I will contact the physician upon the Rayya. No doubt he will drop everything in order to tend to Rael'Zorah's daughter."

Tali's eyes widened. "He wouldn't." Orin'Ikar was a professional. He'd tended to any and all sicknesses, no matter how minor, on the Rayya. Even if Xen contacted him about running diagnostics, it would take him hours before he arrived on board. Diagnostics would require a few solid hours in itself. By then, the geth would have arrived.

Suddenly, everything clicked into place. "You just want the geth."

"I would give it back," Xen retorted, though her voice rang with a mechanized truth that did not feel genuine. "As the current captain of this ship, it is my duty to inspect anything passing through."

"Inspect?" Tali almost cringed when her voice rose sharply. "You don't want to inspect it; you want to run tests on it!"

Xen bristled noticeably, though she recovered with ease. If her status as part of the Admiralty Board taught her anything, it was how to deal with these sorts of circumstances. With an almost rehearsed calm, she continued, "What I do with the package is my business and my business alone. You would do well not to undermine my authority as captain of this vessel and admiral of the Fleet. Your _acceptance_ of what I have to do is paltry at best." Running her fingers along the desk, she lifted herself from her chair. "As soon as the package arrives, I can have it confiscated."

The much younger quarian followed by example and stood, shoulders hefted in an unconscious attempt to make herself seem larger. "And I could hail the shuttle right now and tell it not to come at all."

"You wouldn't dare." Xen's voice lowered to a murmur, but even still her words dripped with bile.

Tali took a daring step forward, leaning closer to the admiral.

"Would I?"

Admiral Daro'Xen hadn't seen half the things she'd seen. That fact alone comforted her in some small way. She'd fought. She'd struggled and overcome things Xen couldn't even dream of facing. The geth, the Collectors, countless waves of mercenaries and husks - they all fell before her and her shotgun with Shepard's help. The woman before her was a politician and nothing more. She couldn't let fear overwhelm her. Not now, not with so much riding on what she had to do.

"With all due respect, Admiral," Tali began, "this mission was given to me by the Admiralty Board. You're just one part of that Board. You don't have the power to stop me from doing my job."

The infuriating thing about what she said was the fact that she was right. Xen dropped her helmet to her terminal for a moment before sitting down. She could feel Tali's eyes on her, anticipating some kind of adverse response. Instead, all she got was a dismissive wave. "Get out."

Without looking away from the orange glow of the screen, Daro'Xen heard the door to her office open and close.

She would find a way.

The moment Tali stepped into the office's antechamber, her lungs quaked in her chest, finally filling with air for the first time in nearly an hour and a half. Aron was the first to stand up, his omni-tool blinking out of existence with a few, anxious prods of a finger. Kal's head jerked upwards when he heard Aron nearly jump to his feet. Seeing him standing and looking towards the door, he stood, as well, helmet wrenching to the side to see Tali standing there.

She hadn't expected such a reaction. "Uh, hi," she chuckled; the sound was tremulous, due in no small part to the fact that her nerves felt like they'd been set on fire. "I'm sorry about leaving you three in here for so long. I figured the meeting would only last for a few minutes." Pausing, she shifted on her feet, one hand curling reflexively around her other wrist. "You didn't have to wait for me."

"We were on break," Nesi replied, finally standing up from her chair like the other two. "What else would we have done?"

"Point taken," Tali said with another short laugh. A question hung in the air before them all. _How did it go?_ they all begged her silently. Lacing her hands behind her back, she took a step forward, towards the hallway leading into the exit. "We should head back to the lab." Both Aron and Nesi nodded their agreement, falling into stride with her, and Kal followed suit. "Aron, have you been checking the numbers?"

Aron scrambled to catch up with Tali as she rounded a corner, flicking his omni-tool to life on his arm. "I have," he said, his tone light; excited. Any small accomplishment was met with glowing pride from each and every one of them, no doubt due to Tali's claim that any achievement, no matter how small or tedious, was worth gratification. "I haven't seen anything out of the ordinary."

"Good." Tali grinned to herself. Her little team wasn't too shabby. True, she could've used more than two helpers on something so important as this, but they were steadily proving to her that they were all she needed. "We can put this afternoon's work on hold for a little while. I have to talk to you two."

Aron swerved his head back to look at Nesi. The girl shrugged; she didn't know why Tali wanted to talk to them either.

The return walk to the lab was a quiet one. Tali was too busy running over all that she'd been told during the meeting, scrutinizing each word and phrase that passed Daro'Xen's lips. She couldn't be wary enough of her. Admiral or not, she was a dangerous woman when she had something she wanted, and, Tali admitted to herself after a slight cringe, she wanted that geth more than anything.

Aron found his seat the moment they reached the lab, slipping the tiny OSD out of his omni-tool and slipping it into his terminal. He was still in charge of watching over the numbers steadily running out of the computers, even if they were all mostly back to work.

"You can turn away from that thing for a few minutes, Aron," Tali reminded him as she snatched up the small stack of datapads from her desk. "I have to talk to you two about the meeting."

Still standing near the door, Kal took a step into the lab towards Tali. "I'll be outside, then."

He was surprised when he saw her lift a hand and beckon him farther inside. "No, no, no," she shook her head, "You should hear this, too." Nodding, Kal took a seat next to Nesi, his eyes and attention still fully turned upon Tali. He could've sworn he saw a glint in her eyes when she next spoke. Or maybe it was the teasing lilt in her voice. "You should get used to being included since you'll be spending even more time with us in the near future."

Everyone settled down quickly when they knew she had something important to say. She normally kept to herself when in the lab, tinkering away at this or that to pass the time. She wasn't avoidant, but she didn't talk nearly as much as Aron. When spoken to or if anyone asked about her adventures with Shepard, she would happily share a story or two, but they always ended in her going right back to work.

"I know what you two are up to," Tali began, pointing an accusing finger at Nesi that then shifted to Aron. The gesture would've been threatening if her tone hadn't been so light. "Admiral Xen didn't find a _single_ error in my reports - _a single one_. I don't make it a point to make a lot of mistakes, but I do make some." She dropped her hand to her waist, "So, come on, whose idea was it to revise my work?"

For a moment, no one moved. The room was filled to the brim with tension. Were they supposed to admit to it? Would Tali be angry?

Aron was the first to move. He glanced towards Nesi, who saw the movement out of the corner of her eye and turned to look back at him. He could see her eyes clamp shut in frustration. Clearing her throat, she then glanced back at Tali, who was waiting for some kind of response. "It was... my idea," she said finally. And then everything came rushing out with a vengeance. "We noticed you weren't getting much sleep, and everyone knows how that effects the way your body functions. We didn't want you to get picked on by Admiral Xen for it, since we know how she is... You deserve more than that. So we went behind your back and fixed any mistakes. We didn't mean anything by it, ma'am. We just wanted to make sure that she wouldn't stop your work because of it."

Tali couldn't decide whether she should be embarrassed by her own clumsiness or moved by their help. In the end, the latter won out and she lifted a hand to her chest, settling it right above her heart. She didn't know what to say; she was sure there was nothing she could think up could measure to the feeling welling up inside of her.

"Th-thank you," she stammered, following it with a self-depreciating chuckle. The hand resting on her chest lifted to her faceplate. "I... I hope there weren't too much for you two to clean up."

"Oh, no!" Aron chimed in. "Even when you're dozing off at your terminal, you still make less mistakes than some of the guys I went to school with." He yelped as Nesi's sharp elbow impacted him in the ribs. Again. "Why do you keep doing that!?"

Tali burst into a fit of laughter. So Kal was right. She _did_ inspire something in people she hadn't ever realized. Calling her blind would've been a compliment at this point, considering she'd looked over Aron and Nesi backing her up unlike anything she'd expected. After following Shepard for so long, she never thought that she'd rouse loyalty in others like he did. While she'd be quick to deny it was the same thing, there was a small voice in the back of her head that swore it was not.

Her two assistants soon joined in on her laughter. She even heard a quiet chuckle come through the filters of Kal's helmet. There was a slight tightening in her chest at the sound that only worsened when she looked towards him to see him give her a nod.

The four of them quieted soon after, returning to their work as if the conversation had never taken place. For the next hour, they sat in relative silence aside from the constant bleeping of the terminals or the rare sigh from the project director. Any of her anxious waiting finally came to a halt when the room was filled with an announcement from the ship's pilot.

"Tali'Zorah." Her eyes shot up from her terminal. "Your presence is requested at the Starboard airlock."

Her breath caught in her throat, fingers curling into her palms.

"Your package has arrived."


End file.
